Lodz, 21 January 1929
To my beloved and precious brother, as well as nephew,
and niece, Sol and E. Zissman,
I received your letter of January 3 yesterday, and I am
answering it immediately. Dear and devoted Sol, something like
a premonition seemed to be telling me the whole time that it's
no simple thing causing Sol not to write. Every day I waited
impatiently for a letter. Every day I waited for the postman to
bring me news from my beloved brother. On the one hand, I
thought that you were busy; it's before the Christmas holiday;
you have no time; you're involved with your stoves, beds,
tables, etc.; evidently you want to send me your profit and loss
statement for 1928. On the other hand, I was concerned, very
concerned. G-d knows what has happened there. Who knows
whether someone, chas v'cholilah, has become ill. Don't I know
very well that it is not your nature to make me wait four or
five weeks for a letter? And today, receiving your letter,
everything has become clear.
Dear and devoted Sol, I am now holding your letter in my hand
and reflecting upon it. I am somewhat dispondent, and I ask,
"Master of the universe, why do we deserve that, of the 100% of
punishment that you send down to your sinful little world, 99%
should descend on our family?"... I don't know; it's possible
that there may be found some who are even more unfortunate than
we, but (to find) people as unfortunate as we are, one would
have to search among tens of thousands. I take the last
photograph of your sister, Ruchele, in my hand and think to
myself as follows, "Dear and devoted child, how much you have
already endured in this sinful world? How much hurt and pain
you have already suffered since you have grown up. My hapless
and devoted Ruchele, since your uncle is far from you and cannot
help you in any way, he cannot do anything for you other than to
beg that Almighty G-d help you again in your need today just as
He has always helped you in your need when you called to Him,
that you should have a complete recovery granted from above.
Devoted and beloved Sol, I can imagine in what sort of critical
time you found yourself when you were told how seriously ill
your hapless sister is. I also know very well that if it were
up to you, nothing would be too costly for the sake of your
sister's health. However, on that score, dear Sol, if it turns
out, chas v'cholilah, that you find yourself in a critical
moment, don't panic, keep your head, because a person is strong
enough to do battle with himself and others. Take advantage of
all of your abilities and alternatives in order to save one who
is close to you.
You didn't evoke any surprise from me because of your going to
recite Psalms for the sake of your devoted sister's health
because I am well acquainted with such methods as Psalms, but
that your father has become so freethinking in America that he
makes fun of Psalms...so, tell me, what sort of methods did he
apply to save his daughter, other than Psalms? Sol, I don't
want to pour any oil on the fire...because it's ablaze as it
is... I also don't want to cause you any pain by blaming your
father, although there on the spot your father may have deserved
to have someone open his eyes. In any event, devoted Sol, this
is not the suitable moment for you to declare war on your
father. I am completely convinced that your father will
recognize that he blundered. As for his wife controlling him
and his buying an auto, etc., he'll begin to come to his senses
in time. Would that he would sober up a bit because he is still
drunk with success... But let's put that subject aside for
another time.
It hurt you, so you unburdened yourself to your uncle, and you
seem to feel a bit better. Yes, Sol, a person experiences
moments when he has to get things off his chest. If one
doesn't, one can, chas v'cholilah, choke. It's also the same
with me, Sol. I feel so alone that I simply don't have anyone
to whom I can utter a word. I have gone through a lot this
winter, Sol. Lately, it's been like a hospital around here.
Everyone in my household has been ill with the grippe recently.
Thank G-d that everything turned out all right; it only involved
money.
I have also had a lot of concern about Uncle Lazer lately. He
was here to have a discussion with me about the mechanization of
his bakery. We have had a calamity here recently. We have a
Minister of the Interior, Sklodkowski(??) by name, who is not
concerned with whether one is able to remodel or not. He wants
everything in order, clean, sanitary in the European style. He
wants Opoczno turned into Berlin or Paris. So, for example, he
issued a regulation that all the bakers who want to have a
bakery on their own names must make it like it is in Paris or
Warsaw. Kneading machines, other bakery machines, also a
mechanized oven. And in the event one is not able to accomplish
it all and do everything, he requires the magistrates to make
the changes. The result is that, in the meantime, all the
bakers will have to go begging because the magistrates are
taking care of tearing the last bit of bread out of the mouths
of the Jews. This is the way it is for Jews to make a living in
Poland, dear Sol. Lazer was also thinking about selling
everything and moving here to Lodz and opening some sort of
store, but Aunt Esther doesn't want to live in Lodz. She says
that she doesn't have the energy for Lodz. She wants to die and
be buried where our mother, may she rest in peace, is buried.
As of now, he returned home with no plan because how can I
advise or help him at a time when I myself need help?
The bottom line, Sol, is that we don't see anything good, and we
don't hear anything good. We also get sad stories from Malke's
parents in Toronto about their regretting that they went to
Canada. They write that things are bad with them, and the
children live far from them. They see each other once a month!
Dear and devoted brother, you promised in your last letter to
write me a long letter in a few days when Ruchele is already
feeling better, and to write about everything from A to Z, how
you are feeling, and how business is, how the year of 1928
turned out, and how your wife is, whether she is well, and
whether you are in partnership with your father-in-law and
whether you still have both stores or one...in a word, to write
to me about everyone and everything.
So, I close my letter with heartfelt regards for you and your
wife, in-laws, sisters, father, grandfather, grandmother and
uncles. My wife and children, Uncle Lazer, Aunt Esther and
children send heartfelt regards to all. Two cousins, Moshe and
Wolfche, send you a picture; Moshe is on the right; the one in
the cap is Wolfche; the one on the left with the hat is the
pastry baker. My Joseph sends regards to you all. He is going
to school already and is all right. From me,
Your uncle,
Wolf Lewkowicz
All material Copyright 1995 by Marshall L. Zissman and Sol J. Zissman.